Too Late
by Aoki Aoi 16
Summary: 5 reflects over his life when he is about to send 2 away, forever. (The burial scene) Oneshot. Rated T for character death.


Here I am now, at the pond of library. Standing here, with 9, 3,4 and 6. 7 and 8 have been taken away by that machine. We should go save them, but there's too much to concentrate on right now.

I look down to see half of an empty shell of a great Stitchpunk I once knew. Where was he now? Was he in peace? Who knows?That may always remain a mystery.

So much had happened today. I met 9, a stitchpunk I never even knew existed. 2 was taken away by the beast. 9 and I found 2, and even 7, but only to ultimately result 2's death. A new machine attacked us, and we killed it, however, our sanctuary burned to ashes. We came to the library to stay, only to discover a new machine, which used 2's body, and stole 7 and 8 away from us. And now, this.

I want to blame 9 for everything. It's his fault that 2 died! If only he never woke up! If only he never awakened that machine! None of this would've happened if it weren't for him! But I can't. I know 2 wouldn't want me to. 9 didn't know any better. I know it's not completely his fault. If anything, I'm the one to blame.

This morning, 1 sent out 2 to scout. I don't know why he did that. Maybe I could've stopped 2. If 2 hadn't gone, he wouldn't have been taken from the beast. If 2 hadn't gone, he wouldn't have found 9. If 2 hadn't gone, he wouldn't have died. If 2 hadn't gone, his body wouldn't have been used to for that hideous machine! How dare that machine use 2! Yet, its my fault that 2 was used.

I think 2 was the closest stitchpunk to me. I met 2 inside the helmet, when were trying to defend ourselves from the machine and the war. He wasn't the first stitchpunk I met. I had met 3 and 4 first, then 7, when she lead the three of us into the helmet. That was when I met 2, because I stood next to him. I also met 1, 6, and 8. I remember to this very day about what happened after that.

All 8 of us were walking under the helmet, when a bomb exploded. It pushed all of us forward. I was in the back of the helmet, so I fell out. I remember feeling pain, but I knew I had to get up. Everyone else was ahead of me, I needed to catch up! I tried getting up when a machine aimed straight at me. But a man ran in front of me, and threw something at the machine. It was useless though. The machine shot him down. I tried to run, quickly, but it was too late! The machine saw me! I could hear missals flying toward the ground around me. I seemed to be jumping every time one near by hit. Suddenly, I heard a big boom. I was up in the air! I looked down at the ground, I didn't know how high I was, but definitely more than a foot, which was a lot for a stitchpunk. I felt gravity pull on me, as I fell toward the ground. It seemed like an eternity to me, but I knew this was only seconds long. Suddenly I crashed!

At first, I felt nothing. Then, pain. Pain raged through my body, especially my head. I felt as if all my inner metals were crumbling into nothing, and my wires were sparking out. I looked to see if the outside of my body was hurt. I couldn't tell, my vision was blurred. I tried to refocus, when I realized something was terribly wrong. I tried to refocus my optics, but it wasn't working too well. It was as if, I couldn't refocus completely. I was refocusing a little bit, things were starting to get clearer, but my vision still seemed quite off.

I saw something come towards me. As it came closer, I made out that the figure was a stitchpunk, 2. He helped me up. I could tell he was looking at me, but everything seemed so blurred, and off. He helped me walk, toward everyone else I assume. Every step hurt, but I knew if we didn't get out of here fast enough, everyone would be in danger! And I was putting 2 at risk! Suddenly, I fell down with 2. Someone helped us back up. 7, I think? Yes, it was 7. She lead us toward the helmet everyone else was under. Everything after that was a blur.

I remember waking up in the workshop that day. My optics were completely focused, yet something seemed off. I saw 2 staring at me. "You're awake," he said to me. "We were worried about you, after your... incident." Incident? "Where am I? What happened?" I asked. "We're at our 'Sanctuary'" 2 replied. "Where the eight of us will stay until the Great War ends." I could tell 2 was avoiding something. I could see it in his eyes. "What happened to me?" I asked. 2 sighed, and looked down. "5, I knew you'd find out sooner or later, weather some one told you or not, so might as well tell you. After the explosion, you hit the ground very hardly. The impact of the hit broke your left optic. I tried to fix it, but there just wasn't any way. You're now missing... your left optic..."

It all made sense now. Why I couldn't refocus completely. Why my vision continued to be blurred. Why I felt so much pain on the left side of my face. Why my vision was focused, yet still off even now. It all added up. I reached my hand up toward my face, only to feel the lack of my left optic. Instead, I felt some different material on my face, a little smoother than the burlap we were made of.

"I removed your left optic completely, and replaced it with a piece of flat molded copper." I could tell 2 looked worried for me. I tried not to show my feelings. I should've been happy that 2 saved my life, and that I was alive. I should've been happy 2 was able to fix me up. But I was just too shocked about losing my optic. It was rather traumatizing to think that I lost one optic, and I could only the other optic for the rest of my life. "I'm really sorry, 5." 2 said. I shook my head. "Thank you 2, for saving me, and fixing me. I'll just have to get used to having only one optic." I said. 2 smiled. "I'll help you, 5."

2 and I spent a lot of time together after that. At first, he was trying to help me get used to the whole depth perception (I finally figured out what was off) concept. We then bonded over time. 2 liked to invent things, and I helped him. In fact, the first thing we built together, the telescope, was for me. It was also for getting used to depth perception, and to see things going on outside.

Every day, I would look out the telescope. The War was continuing. More and more humans were dying, I could tell. The more time passed by, the fewer humans I saw. Sometimes, I went days, weeks, even months without seeing any humans. Then one day, they disappeared. Just like 2 disappeared from me now.

9 is about to send 2 away now. I don't want to leave 2. However, I know what must be done. Its the right thing to do, for 2's sake. Before I let 9 drift 2 away, I place a penny over his optics. I couldn't tell if his optics were open or closed, since 2 wasn't in there anymore.

The twins, 9, 6 and I are holding onto the raft that 2's body is laying on. We were about to let go. I didn't want to let it go, but I knew I had to. Slowly, the raft was drifting away. 2 was truly leaving me. Words want to come out of my throat, but they won't come out. I want to tell him so badly, but I stop myself. Because I can't. Because what's the point? 2 would never hear me tell him. 2 would never know how much I loved him. The raft had now disappeared from my sight, into the distance. I wish I could've told him I loved him, sooner. But its no use. 2 is gone, forever. It's too late now.

**Alright, what did you think? Was it good, bad, okay? Please tell me in the reviews! I think I wrote a little too much on 5 losing his left optic O_O, oh well. So you guys are probably thinking, AOI! You wrote another oneshot, instead of updating The Ninth One, not to mention you need to seriously update The Story of Andre. I WILL do that. I just wanted to write and post this today, because I did section 5 of chapter 2 for my Algebra II homework! (And it was hard section in parabolas and y=kx^2 stuff) And yeah, that's a dumb reason, I don't care! Just tell me what you think of this fic, and I'll update my other ones. Bye!**


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